


Julie and the Pupper

by Only_Here_for_JatP



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Literal puppy luke, Puppy luke
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 10,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26546335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Only_Here_for_JatP/pseuds/Only_Here_for_JatP
Summary: So we all know that Luke is basically a puppy in human form, but what would happen if Luke was a literal puppy?
Relationships: Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 46
Kudos: 213





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you Netflix for bringing us this fabulous show, but also the most love and adoration for the cast who brought these characters to life.

Thanks to the awesome @Blerghfish for graciously letting me borrow this fabulous Luke as a Puppy piece! 

Julie’s POV

The day started as any other. Julie and Flynn went to school, attended dance class, and rushed home for band practice. Luke and Julie had plans to work on some songwriting and she was itching to get to work after sitting through a tedious day. She always rushed so she could get just one more moment with him where she felt alive and free. When everything felt like it was golden and perfect.

When she walked into the studio though, something was not the same. For one, Luke wasn’t there and he was always there. He was as desperate for their musical connection as she was and ever since the night of the dance, he’d done everything possible to never bail on her again.

So she called out “Luke?” but was only answered with silence. She knew Alex was off searching for Willie, none of the boys had seen him since the night of the Orpheum and frankly they were all getting a little worried. She thought about looking for Reggie, since if he wasn’t off looking with Alex, he was probably hanging with her dad.

She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and curled up on the couch, pulling out her song book so she could at least start getting something done. She was so focused on her writing that she barely heard the scratching at the door. And even then, it took two or three times for it to really sink in that it was real and not in her head. She thought about getting up to look and see what it was, but shaking her head she decided to ignore it.

Where was Luke? It’d been long enough that worry was starting to set in, a gnawing of unease in her stomach. Then she heard the whining, soft at first but getting louder and more insistent. She started to stand up to see what could possibly be at the door when the cutest barking started. It was too high pitched to be a full sized dog, but no one in the neighborhood had a puppy last she knew.

She opened the garage door to find sitting a scruffy looking brown dog. A deep brown, like the color of Luke’s hair. That thought gave her pause. Maybe Flynn was right and her crush on the ghost with the perfect smile was getting too deep. The puppy’s eyes were Hazel and honestly she really could have sworn it looked familiar. It was only a moment, but the breed was unrecognizable as well. Then with a small cheerful bark, the puppy dashed into the studio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out more of @Blerghfish on tumblr and here on ao3 
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26471527


	2. Chapter 2

Julie's POV con.

Julie watched in small horror as the puppy galomped through the studio. It was about the size of a Labrador puppy, but the ball of fluff definitely wasn’t a lab. 

“Nonononononono come back here” she yelled as she scrambled after the racing dog. The puppy was dashing over and around all the instruments and her internal screams were deafening as she feared the puppy might take down a guitar or two. 

Somehow the puppy was taking even more glee in this new game of chase than he was in exploring and sniffing the garage studio. At one point Julie was sure that the mischievous furball was within reach and she lunged, but alas the little – darted out of the way and she landed with a thump on the ground. 

She looked up from where she lay on her stomach on the floor and the puppy, staying just out of reach mind you, scooched in closer. She could’ve sworn that she watched the puppy grin. As if he was laughing at her and recognition twinkled again in the back of her mind.

But no, it couldn’t be right? Ghosts were strange enough as it was. Yet, somehow this scraggy brown fluffball definitely reminded her of luke.

Lost in thought contemplating this, the puppy snuck closer, bumping his small wet nose against her forehead. In her mind came a loud familiar voice “JULIE!”

She scrambled backwards at that, sitting on the floor with her knees up and eyes wide. She gave a short bark of nervous laughter “I’m not crazy”. The puppy excitedly ran up to her and propped his paws on her knees. Again she heard the voice in her mind “Well, we’re all a little crazy”.

She froze then, their first exchange coming back to her. And while she didn’t know why or what or how all of this was happening she was pretty sure she knew who she was talking to. “Luke?” Puppy Luke gave a short bark and dashed over to his guitar attempting to use his wagging tail to brush the strings.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke’s POV

So he had decided that this was in fact the best.

Ever since they’d played the Orpheum they’d become able to interact physically with Julie, but the boys had wondered if maybe this new level up came with other new perks and powers. Not that the ability to hug Julie wasn’t enough because it was. He was slowly becoming addicted with just touching her casually. He craved the small moments where their hands brushed together when they sat next to each other on the couch songwriting or holding a mic together. Even being able to just briefly touch her back as he walked past her playing the piano.

All he wanted was to spend more time with her and watch her grow into this shining exploding star. He knew he couldn’t really be with her, he was a ghost after all, but if he was going to be dead he wanted to use it to his advantage. He could give her the only thing he had tons of to spare, time.  
So after Reggie and Alex had poofed out for the day, he figured he’d try doing something so that maybe he could spend time with Julie at school. He had tons of time before Julie and him were meeting up for songwriting, so the experimentation began.

In hindsight maybe he should have thought a little bit more about what he was actually trying to accomplish before concentrating all his power on finding a way to be with Julie. It definitely took him a few minutes to figure out what had happened after he poofed into a puppy. At first all he could tell was that everything was wayyy bigger and he seemed to be on four limbs and ohmy what was that smell.

Soon he’d become distracted running around and smelling and exploring the Molina’s yard. He’d come across a terrified bunny but attempting to explain to the creature that he really meant no harm didn’t work. The grumpy gopher on the other hand was definitely not someone he wanted to run into again. Somehow along the way he suddenly just knew what he’d shifted into.

Surprisingly enough being a puppy didn’t feel all that different from being himself. He had so much energy and the world was bright and wonderful. Suddenly, Julie mumbling the word puppy under her breath at him sometimes made a lot more sense. Anyway, after digging the best hole- if he said so himself- he heard Julie come home and head into the studio.

He’d tried calling out to her, but it was like she couldn’t hear him. And after attempting to switch back into his human form and failing, oops, he formed a new plan of attack. Time to embrace puppy mode.

After finally managing to get her to open the door, haha yes! And then leading a most excellent game of escape around the room, he finally decided to cut her some slack. Also, he really did have to figure out how to tell her it was him. So when she seemed distracted he booped her with his nose and called out to her as hard as he could. When she fell back, he knew she had heard him. 

He tried again, without touching her, and again the silence. But then she spoke, and he put his paws on her knees and tried once more to reach her. It worked! He ran over to his guitar to prove his point that it was in fact him. And he watched as she melted a little bit.

As she should, he was pretty adorable. Especially as a puppy.

How unfortunate, he thought sarcastically, that he could only communicate when he was touching her. He could feel the puppy smile growing on his face. Yeah, this really is the best.


	4. Chapter 4

3rd Person POV

It was at this point of course that Reggie and Alex decided to pop back in.

“Hey Jules, you okay?” Alex asked while Reggie shrieked “PUPPPYYY!” And immediately went over to try and pick Puppy Luke up. Eliciting a bark and shocked faces from her bandmates. 

“It’s Luke.” Reggie still sounded a little shell shocked.

“It is indeed, could y’all hear him?” Julie asked. They both nodded, still staring at Puppy Luke. “I only seem to hear him when I’m touching him.”

They finally tore their gaze away and looked at Julie. “Maybe it’s a ghost thing?” Reggie offered.

Luke decided he’d finally had enough of them talking about him like he wasn’t there and looking all concerned as if this wasn’t awesome. He ran back towards Julie, tripping over his paws maybe a little and sliding right into her legs. A graceful puppy he was not.

Julie chuckled softly at the antics and heaved a huge sigh. “So. What exactly are we going to do about this?”

“Yeah Luke, what exactly happened?”

Luke explained that he’d been experimenting with his ghost powers when poof puppy, but he hadn’t been able to poof back. He left out that he was doing it to spend more time with Julie, because Reggie and Alex were already exchanging smirks, especially once Julie absent mindedly started giving him head scritches and he felt his tail start thumping out of his control. The puppy in him was strong and he snuggled deeper into her side, purely involuntary of course.

The band ultimately decided to just wait it out. Hopefully Luke would poof back in his own time. In the meantime, the rest of them needed to figure out what to do with a ghost puppy.


	5. Chapter 5

Julie’s POV

Julie had to walk outside and take a breather. This couldn’t be happening, how did having three ghost teenage boys become so much work??? At that she let out a small laugh. A puppy of all things. Luke had turned himself into a puppy. Like, they’d all commiserated that he essentially acted like one. She’d even said it to his face a couple of times but now somehow he was a literal puppy. How exactly was she supposed to handle a ghost puppy? She sat down in the driveway and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

Luke’s POV

As soon as Julie exited the studio, he felt his puppy excitement overwhelming him. GUYS. GUYS. I’m a PUPPY! Watch this! He took off zooming around everything. He was puppy. He was speed. He… didn’t have a lot of turning power and slid right into Reggie’s bass, nearly toppling it from the stand.

“DUDE!!” Reggie shrieked, steadying his bass and picking up a squirmy Luke. “Well I’ve always wanted a puppy named Luke”

A mix of barks and words came hurled at Reggie. “Reggie. Put. Me. Down.”

“Oh yeah? I bet you wouldn’t mind if I was Julie.” Luke stilled.

“That’s. Well that’s beside the point!”

“I’m sure you’re real devastated, that Julie has to be touching you for you to talk with her.” Alex chimed in as Reggie gently put him down.

“I mean. I guess that part doesn’t absolutely suck.” He threw back at them as he eyed a pillow which had fallen from the couch. Luke wasn’t sure why, but he knew somehow the pillow was mocking him. He crept slowly up on his newfound nemesis until POUNCE he chomped down on the pillow, shaking it furiously. 

“Luke! Geeze” There Reggie went picking him up again. Yeah he definitely wasn’t sure he liked that. “Luke. Let go.”

But Luke wasn’t going to let the pillow go back to mocking him. Never give up. Never surrender.

Alex joined in Reggie’s struggle trying to take the pillow from Luke. “Luke. LET. GO. Or do you want to explain to Julie why her pillow has been torn to pieces” At this Luke quickly dropped the pillow, but vowed vengeance should he be mocked again. 

Alex sighed. “We need ground rules. First- No zoomies in the studio. Second- No chewing on things you’re not supposed to. Third- Rules can be added at any time. And above all- don’t make life any harder for Julie”

Luke gave a little whine at the last one, feeling his ears and tail droop. Alex was right, he had to do better curbing his puppy impulses. He couldn’t make Julie’s life harder than it was. Alex and Reggie noticing sad puppy Luke shot each other a brief glance and nodded, giving into the impulse they’d had since finding puppy Luke in the first place.

“Who’s a good boy!” They exclaimed repeatedly while petting Luke and giving him scritches behind the ears. Luke instinctively brightened and started wagging his tail. I am absolutely a good boy and yes I deserve all this love and adoration and wait just a damn second.

Luke let a low playful growl- “Stop it. Stop it. Now.”

Alex and Reggie nearly fell over they were laughing so hard and Reggie set Luke down, who sniffed the air indignantly and despite his best efforts pranced towards the door. “I’m going to go check on Julie….. will either of you jerks open the door?”   
Somehow this made them laugh harder, but Alex stumbled over and opened the door just enough for him to sneak out. Luke looked at Julie just sitting there on the ground and instantly sobered. He walked up quietly from behind her and nudged her hand with his head. She started petting his head softly and he laid down next to her.

“I’m sorry Julie, I didn’t mean to make life harder for you.”

“I mean, it’s not just that. What if you’d done something worse and were gone? What if you never change back?”

Neither of those thoughts had occurred to Luke. “I won’t mess around like that anymore, I don’t want to leave. I’ll change back, I’m sure of it. And if not, we’ll figure it out together. Right?”

She smiled a little at that, “Right”, and pulled him into her lap. Hugging him tightly. He sighed, thinking this part of being a puppy wouldn’t be so bad. He felt his tummy grumble and thought that was a little weird but didn’t think much of it or the door to the house opening and closing.

Neither did Julie until she heard Carlos’ voice. “WOAH. Where’d you get the puppy?”


	6. Chapter 6

Luke wriggled in Julie’s lap as he fought his puppy impulses because there was a new person and it was so exciting. 

Julie was too busy staring at Carlos with her mouth open. “You mean this puppy? You can see this puppy?” Luke managed to escape and was jumping up and down clambering to get closer to Carlos.

“Uh yeah. Is there another puppy?”

“No, that’s Luke”

“You named him after your bandmate? Is it the one that you have---”

“Shhhhh!” At this Luke stopped and looked quickly between Julie and Carlos and bounded back to Julie’s lap. He heard his voice playfully in her mind, “you have a what on me??” She ignored him however telling Carlos “No this is actually Luke. He turned himself into a puppy.”

Carlos’ eyes grew wide. “No way! But then how come I can see him?”

Julie shrugged “I have no clue. Oh no, what if dad can see him? How am I supposed to explain a puppy?”

“It’s probably easier than explaining a ghost band!”

Julie groaned as she heard Luke’s laugh in her head. Today just kept getting more and more complicated. “Hey Julie?” Luke’s voice sounded, “I’m hungry, like really hungry.” She actually spoke aloud this time “This can’t be happening. Carlos, Luke says he’s hungry. Do we have anything we can feed to a puppy?”

Carlos stalled “uhhhh… To the fridge!” He pat his legs “Come on luke, let’s go get some food!”. Luke eagerly jumped out of Julie’s lap and followed him inside.

Julie took a deep breath as Alex and Reggie walked out to meet her. They’d seen and heard the entire exchange and they just stood there kind of looking at each other.

Reggie spoke first, “Sooooooo. Luke isn’t a ghost puppy. He’s just a puppy. That’s. That’s worse isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Alex chimed in. “That’s worse.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello yes hello. 
> 
> I know my chapters are relatively short and I might try to make them longer but these always seem like natural breaks. 
> 
> Also. Thanks everyone for the love and support. This is the first time I've posted a fanfic and the positive response is really encouraging.
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy puppy + younger brother antics

3rd POV

Luke was overwhelmingly excited as he followed behind Carlos. He was fluffy and adorable and now he got to go inside the fridge. His tail was wagging as if it had a mind of its own and there was definitely a little bounce in his step. 

Carlos walked them both into the kitchen and glanced between Luke and the Fridge. “So I’ve never owned a dog, not really even sure what you feed a dog. So let’s see what we’ve got. Give me on bark for yes and two barks for no. Got it?”

Bark! “Cool. Um… Spaghetti?” Bark! “Chicken?” Bark! “Broccoli?” Bark bark!

This kept on as Carlos piled more and more food from the fridge on the counter. Luke was speeding around the kitchen island barking excitedly. Every now and again Carlos had to dodge the speeding puppy as he was quickly becoming a tripping hazard. It was inevitable it seemed, when Carlos reached for the last bowl and turned to put it on the counter and in his attempt to dodge Luke’s zooming managed to push half the food onto the floor. Including the bowl of spaghetti. 

Julie heard the crash from outside and rushed inside to see exactly what mischief the ten-year old and Luke had gotten into, but nothing could have prepared her for the sheer disaster that was their kitchen. There was some kind of vegetable liquid spilled all across the counter and were those mashed potatoes dripping down the wall? Bowls of chicken and rice were splayed across the floor, almost all the way to the door. While there was so much more that her eyes hadn’t taken in yet, she then spotted the spaghetti sauce? pawprints wandering aimlessly around the kitchen and island and followed them with her eyes to Luke. Who had, of course, run into the wall because of the bowl of spaghetti still covering his head.

Carlos looked somewhere between dying of laughter and sheer panic at the crazed look in his sister’s eyes. The rest of the band popped into the room, took one look at the mess and burst out laughing. Carlos was apologizing “I’m so sorry. We’ll clean it up” when plop! A mound of mashed potatoes fell from the ceiling to the floor. 

Julie was trying so hard not to crack a smile as she continued to take everything in. Especially when Luke tried unsuccessfully to get the bowl off his head. “It’s okay, we’ll do it together. But we have to hurry before Dad gets home. He’s going to be here any minute!”

A deep voice called out from behind her. “Actually, he’s home now.”


	8. Chapter 8

Julie and Carlos both cringed in the universal signal for busted and Julie slowly turned around to look into her father’s eyes. “Heyyyy Dad.” He didn’t reply, he just kept looking at her with his patented dad look. The one which had gotten her to spill her guts more than once when she was trying to hide something. It was like he already knew the answer but needed her to say it anyway.

“So I found this puppy…” She watched as her dad raised an eyebrow. She walked over to Luke and gently picked him up and removed the bowl from his head. His fur was more red than brown at the moment from all the sauce, and there was still a noodle dangling down his forehead. He was pretty cute, but then she always thought he was pretty cute.

Gently he heard his voice in her mind, “I’m so so so so so sorry Julie…. You think I’m cute?” She froze, apparently, she would have to watch her thoughts while holding him too. 

“Look at him dad, he’s adorable. And he didn’t have a collar and he seemed hungry so we brought him in here to feed him but we don’t know how to feed a dog.” She realized she was rambling, and it was starting to get nonsensical so she wrapped it up with “Can we just watch him for a few days while we look for his owner? I’ll take total responsibility for him and any supplies can come out of my allowance.”

She watched him quietly while holding her breath. She wasn’t really sure what was going to happen if he didn’t say yes. They didn’t know when Luke would change back and he was a real puppy, not a ghost puppy. He needed food and water and

“I don’t know Julie; a puppy is a lot of work. As you can clearly see. You know even if we get attached to him that we can’t keep him,” her dad’s gazed softened, “no matter how adorable he is.” Luke gave a cheerful bark at that, figuring it would benefit him to sell the cutest puppy ever image, for Julie’s sake of course. 

“I know dad, I know. We can’t keep him.” Luke’s voice smirked in her head, Well you can keep me technically, for as long as you want. Julie could feel the blush rising in her cheeks and she shushed him in her thoughts. “Pleeeeaaasssee”

Carlos chimed in too, “Yeah! Pleaaaassse dad! I’ll help too. Just for a few days.”

Ray gazed at them silently for a few more minutes before finally giving in. “Okay fine, but just for a few more days until we find his home or a different option. Understood?” Julie and Carlos nodded vigorously while Luke barked in agreement. Ray laughed and added “Well then I guess we better get to work. Carlos and I will clean up this mess and you will go give our flying spaghetti monster here a bath and then, we’ll go shopping. The little guy will have to eat something and now so will we.”

Carlos and Julie rushed in to hug him tightly and then scattered off to get the job done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm LOVING the comments. Thank you. I've got maybe a few more chapters for today and then it's going to slow down a lot. So enjoy it while it's here.
> 
> Also Ray is the best dad.
> 
> Stay tuned for the next chapter where Puppy Luke has to take a bath.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all <3 your comments mean everything to me.
> 
> Anyway, here is Displeased Puppy Luke who absolutely Does Not Want to take a bath.

Luke’s POV

To say Luke was displeased was an understatement. He was a 17 year old rocker and while Reggie may have like to soak in the bath sometimes, he found the idea of being bathed as a puppy somewhat humiliating.

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad except for the ghostly commentators. Luke and Reggie were getting too much of a kick out of all of this and as soon as he was human again, he’d be damn sure to find some way to return the favor.

Julie was smart enough to close the bathroom door behind her and as she knelt to fill the tub up with water he glanced around desperately to see if there was something he could hide behind. He’d tried convincing Reggie and Alex to whisk him away, but they’d just laughed and said they wouldn’t miss this for the world.

Aha! He noticed the pile of towels Julie had brought in anticipation and he thought of a way he might be able to distract Julie. He went over and grabbed one end with his teeth and started to pull so that by the time Julie turned around, he’d stretched it most of the way out.

“Luke!” Julie grabbed hold of the other end of the towel. Luke smirked, “gotcha” he thought. A playful growl escaped his throat as he began to tug against Julie. 

Soon an intense game of tug of war was at work. Reggie and Alex acted as sports commentators remarking how Julie was gaining the lead before Luke would pull a tricky move and gain ground. Julie started laughing that deep bright sound that Luke loved most. He wanted to do anything to keep hearing that sound. But he got a little too lost in it giving the opportunity for Julie to scoop him up in her arms.

“Nice try Luke, but you need a bath.” Okay so new plan, being a puppy had to come in handy sometime right? He turned on the biggest eyes he could, focused on being sad, and started a small whimper.

He reached out to feel her emotions to see if his plan was working. He’d heard her thoughts earlier, maybe he could feel something else too. Quickly he felt this light, it was warmth and joy and laughter and love for them all. It filled him with his own light and he quickly lost his grasp on the pouting puppy routine.

To her credit, Julie made sure the entire thing was quick and painless once she actually managed to get him in the water. He still gave her a hard time though, making sure she ended up just as soaked as he did. Although, he did discover that Julie could bribe him to do just about anything with back scratches.

After taking a couple last pictures of Puppy Luke covered in bubbles, Julie pulled Luke out of the bath to dry him off. He tried to shake off all the wet so he could spatter Reggie and Alex who made ridiculous comments the whole time, but Julie was on to his mischievous plan and covered him with a towel before he could get that far.

He was still pretty grumpy about the whole endeavor but watching Julie’s face light up the whole time had tempered it a great deal.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello yes hi
> 
> Thanks always everyone. This is the last one for the night and potentially awhile because Grad School.
> 
> Anyway. There's lots of goo and sleepy puppy and it's just real adorable.

The rest of the evening was relatively uneventful. Julie had reluctantly left Luke under the care of Alex and Reggie in the yard while they went shopping for supplies. She was pretty sure she’d come back to find something destroyed, yet all seemed well when the Molinas returned home.

Luke was finally fed and then promptly crashed on the couch curled up in between Carlos and her dad. Her heart had melted at the sight. Carlos adored Luke in his puppy form and every now and again seemed to forget that he was actually her fourth band mate and a ghost at that. 

Her dad tried his best to resist adoring the scruffy brown furball. But she’d discovered he’d managed to buy a small toy bone and some treats without either her or Carlos finding out. He hadn’t had the opportunity to use them yet, but she could tell he was low key excited about it.

Finally though it was time for them to crash for the night.

“You’ve got everything the puppy needs to sleep through the night, right Julie?” her dad asked.

She stalled. Somewhere in the back of her mind she’d probably thought through the whole Luke sleeping in her room thing. And she realized he was in puppy form, but it was still Luke. She stammered through an agreement and gathered up her courage. This was fine, she could put a big fluffy pillow on the floor and he could sleep there. She didn’t snore, she thought. 

She’d never checked, but also she slept over at Flynn’s all the time and she never said anything. Also she was pretty sure the guys checked in on her sometimes at night and she fell asleep all the time in the studio and they’d never said anything. She breathed a sigh of relief. This was going to be fine.  
Gently she picked up the sleeping form of puppy Luke, cradling him in her arms. She could sense his slight stirring as she pulled him closer. A foggy “Julie” came through, no more than an instant but it was followed by a flash of contentment and something she couldn’t quite place, and then he drifted back to sleep.

She allowed her mind to wander to the possibility of ghost Luke falling asleep in her lap. She could run her fingers through his hair and watch him give her a sleepy smile before dozing off. The thought gave her heart a sweet ache of longing. She missed the ghost Luke. She missed his smile and laugh, and the way his eyes lit up when she entered a room. She wished up to the universe for a tomorrow to come where she could see him again.

She settled him on the pillow on the floor next to her bed where he stayed fast asleep. She quickly got ready for bed, opting to change in the bathroom- just in case. When she re-entered her room to get into her bed, she heard the most heartbreaking noise.

They were so soft and so sad; the whines puppy Luke was emitting. He tossed and turned as if he was having a bad dream. Julie wasn’t sure if her ghost boys slept much, they certainly hadn’t mentioned any dreams to her. This could be his first time dreaming in 25 years, and who knew what haunted the dark parts of his mind. She couldn’t leave him there, so ever so carefully she picked him up and set him on top of her comforter at the foot of her bed.

She guessed, just this once, he could sleep in her bed, since he was having a bad dream. Almost immediately, he calmed. As if he knew she was there. She crawled into bed, turned off the lights and soon dozed off.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
.  
Something dragged her groggy mind out of its slumber. Not entirely, her eyes didn’t even open. But she could feel something fuzzy and warm against her face. She reached up and pet the slumbering puppy who had managed to crawl up to her pillow so his forehead was resting against hers. She could sense him stirring a little bit too. It was almost as if she could feel him reaching out to her.

She reached back out to him. And she felt the soft smile play on her lips. She felt safe and content and wholly at peace. Somewhere engulfed in the middle they could feel the light. As if it were the glowing embers of a fire. It wasn’t a romantic sort of moment, but it was a meeting of souls none the less. A beautiful acknowledgement that whatever else happened in either of their lives (or afterlives) that they would always have this friendship, this family, this love.

And with that they both drifted off into a dreamless, peaceful sleep.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's still avoiding doing her grad school work?
> 
> A special shout out to @Dark-Supernatural-Angel who gave me the perfect start to this chapter that I'd been missing.
> 
> Anyway, longer chapters than normal for now.

Julie was drawn out of the sleep the next morning by an overwhelming but comfortable warmth. She worked on snuggling closer to it, her arms tightening around the warm fuzzball she was holding. Slowly she remembered that the warm fuzzball was in fact Luke and somehow he had shifted so she was cuddling him like a teddy bear. She could hear sleepy laughter from him in her thoughts and the joy that followed as he also snuggled in closer.

She knew she had to get up for school, but at the moment, she desperately didn’t want to. She hadn’t bothered to open her eyes yet, and she was dreading the moment her alarm went off and she was forced to do so, but it wasn’t that time yet and so she focused on emptying her mind and just feeling.

Vaguely she thought she might hear some shuffling in the background, but it was probably just her dad and Carlos getting ready for their day. Then the whispers started and those definitely couldn’t be Carlos and her dad, right? Before she could fully think it through though, her alarm went off and her eyes jolted open.

Straight into Alex and Reggie’s. Who conveniently were sitting there with her phone trained on the sleeping puppy Luke and the now awake Julie. Luke came awake at the feel of Julie’s rising anger and was that embarrassment? He turned his head to whatever had Julie getting angrier by the second and caught sight of Alex and Reggie. “Of course”

“What are you doing in my room!” Julie whisper-yelled at the two ghosts. 

“Well we really wanted pictures!” Reggie responded too brightly and too honestly.

“You’re messing with my phone! Boundaries!”

“But Luke is here! And he’s in your bed!” Reggie covered his mouth with his hand as soon as the words were out, realizing he had just made a potentially lethal mistake. Alex hit him and Luke jumped off the bed, suddenly not wanting to be in between Julie and the ghosts receiving her patented death glare.

Julie started sputtering out statements and moving to get out of the bed towards them. In a move of complete self-preservation Alex intervened. “Julie, Julie we’re so sorry. We know we shouldn’t have done it, but we hadn’t seen Luke in awhile and so we were looking for him. And you both looked so happy, we thought you might like a picture of it. As proof you know?”

“And blackmail!” Reggie chimed in, earning him a DUDE from both Luke and Alex. Julie had to smile at the boys’ antics. Once she stopped being angry at the intrusion, she probably would really enjoy that picture. And the idea of using it as leverage….

Luke watched in small horror as she clearly contemplated using the picture. He was just a little bit glad she couldn’t hear him while he looked at the boys and told them to delete it. Unfortunately, they just laughed.

“Fine. Just this once, I’ll let you get away with it. But if I ever wake up again to find you both staring at me while I sleep. I will make the rest of your afterlives miserable. Got it?”

The two ghost boys nodded and if they were smart that would’ve been it. Alas, Reggie had been mulling over something ever since they’d poofed in to discover Julie and Luke cuddling together. “So, question, if Alex and I were also puppies, does that mean the band could sleep in one giant cuddle pile on the bed?”

Julie’s eyes widened with shock as she imagined all three of her bandmates as puppies together. The shenanigans. The destruction. The cuteness. Suddenly a loop of the word no started playing in her head nononononon. NO. 

All three boys looked on before Alex quietly said “I think you broke Julie”

Suddenly Julie bursted out with “No. Don’t even think about it okay. Just stay human ghost boys and… and.. I’m going to go get ready for school. You all just… just….” She waved her hand at them and walked out of the room.

Reggie pouted just a little. “But a puppy pile. And all the cuddles.” Alex just patted his shoulder knowingly. Luke was amused by his bandmates but also was with Julie on this. He couldn’t really tell where his own feelings ended and puppy possessiveness kicked in (As if there was a difference!), but he knew for sure that he did not want to share Julie cuddles. Not even with his two best friends.

He also really did not want to be away for Julie for a whole day while she was at school. That was the whole point of his experimenting yesterday anyway. This was when his most brilliant idea ever hit.

“I’m going to go with Julie to school” Alex and Reggie turned to look at him. 

Alex chimed in first “I’m pretty sure that’s a terrible idea.” Reggie nodded along.

“No see, this is the best idea. Everyone can see me, and I fit inside her backpack. And I can be with Julie all day.”

“No dude seriously, you could get Julie in trouble.” Reggie said.

Luke however had already decided and hopped into Julie’s bag. Alex shook his head and sighed knowing Reggie and himself would probably loiter around out of sight in order to make sure Luke didn’t get in too much trouble. They both knew though, that once Luke decided on something, there was very little which could talk him out of it. 

Alex and Reggie poofed out of the room. Julie walked back in ready to go for the day and a little relieved to find the ghost boys gone, and it looked like they took Luke too. They’d been fine yesterday, so she figured it would be okay for today. Realizing she was running behind she grabbed her bag, noticing it felt a little heavier than usual, and headed out the door for school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jealous Puppy Luke is my favorite and there is more of it coming!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love y'all so much I decided to stay up and write another chapter. 
> 
> Of course once I started I wasn't ready to be done 
> 
> Especially because I really want to write Jealous Puppy Shenanigans.
> 
> So it's coming. Tonight. Who needs sleep?

Frankly Julie heaved a big sigh of relief as she walked through the front doors of her school and immediately spotted Flynn. She loved her ghostie boys, but sometimes she needed to be around someone she could trust with scissors.

Flynn, having heard brief snippets about what had happened the day before was excitedly waiting for Julie to arrive, and at the first sight of her pounced with a stream of questions. “Deets! Now! Luke somehow turned into a puppy??? And everyone can see him?? Like he’s real and alive and I need pictures now!”

Luke, who had been taking a nap in the surprisingly comfortable backpack, woke to the sound of his name. He felt a small twinge of guilt since he was spying, but he was also overwhelmingly curious about what Julie had already told Flynn. And if there were pictures, he wanted to know so he could potentially delete the embarrassing ones later. This silly pencil case though, was in his way of getting a good listen. Luke would just have to teach it some manner.

Julie started to fill Flynn in on the details from the night before when her backpack started…. Squirming? Oh no. She pulled her backpack in front of her and opened it to find Puppy Luke chomping on her pencil case. He gave her his best sheepish grin as she pulled Luke out of her backpack, glaring at him the whole time.

Flynn deadpanned “Wow. You really weren’t kidding.” She reached out for Puppy Luke, and held him like a baby with his tummy up where she started to scratch. Soon she’d found just the right spot where his leg started thumping involuntarily and he wasn’t sure whether to embrace his inner happy puppy or be slightly mortified. Happy Puppy, he decided.

“You know Julie, he’s pretty adorable like this.” At this Luke, gave a happy bark of approval. Now if only Julie would stop glaring at him.

Julie raised her eyebrows at Flynn, refusing to take the bait. “Mischievous is what he is. Sneaking into my backpack like that, I could get in real trouble for bringing a puppy to school.”

“I mean yeah, but everyone will love him. How much better would class be with a puppy! Besides, how’s he going to get home now? Pleeeeaaassseee can he stay?” She held up Puppy Luke next to her face and they both went full on puppy pout, with Luke throwing an extra whine in for good measure.

“Fine, but he’s going to have to stay still and quiet in my backpack during class.”

“Yes!” Flynn and Luke celebrated while Julie just shook her head and sighed. Between the two of them, she couldn’t resist.

To Luke’s credit, he behaved perfectly through the first half of the day. He was fawned over by her classmates (and Julie cringed about how much this was going to inflate his ego) during the beginning and then napped in her backpack throughout class. She wasn’t going to say it, but it was kind of nice knowing that he was there. While he hadn’t explicitly said it, the fact that he would be willing to go through all her boring classes just so he could be next to her warmed her heart. She could reach down and pet his head softly when she was stressed in class and she felt the encouragement and support flowing from him.

Then lunch happened. Luke had been sleeping most of the day and between all the good food smells and all the new people, he was practically vibrating he had so much energy. By then most of the school had seen, and fallen in love, with the adorable scruffy puppy. So Julie let him out of her backpack where he could roam around and visit all the students. They would sneak him little tidbits and give him head scritches and he was pretty pleased.

After visiting everyone he wandered back over to Julie’s table which was occupied by her, Flynn, that guy Nick, and a couple of other people that Luke hadn’t really seen before. He hopped up onto the bench she was sitting on so he could lay down next to her, happy to be with her. She acknowledged his presence, but then went back to her conversation with Flynn and Nick. It was some conversation on movies, and although Julie had been working on catching them up he still didn’t really recognize the names.

He could feel though how happy Julie was here in this place with her friends. She laughed as if she didn’t have a care in the world. And there was this other feeling too that he was trying to figure out. It felt sharp? Shy? Like butterflies? Did Julie have a crush? On Nick???

He thought back to that time in the hallway when she was about to go dance with him. He’d been trying to figure it out then, but he couldn’t really read her. After everything that had happened though, he suspected that she felt for him like he felt for her. That dizzying kind of connection that made everything fall into place.

Nick cracked an awful joke and he listened to Julie giggle at it. She giggled at it? He was right here and she was paying all this attention to this guy. He was just going to have to do something about that.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oblivious Jealous Puppy Luke is my favorite
> 
> In other news, it got a little angsty which I did not expect, but I rolled with it.
> 
> Also Alex and Reggie are the best wingmen, but really should never have been trusted to actually curb Luke's devious nature.
> 
> There's only like two chapter left and I kinda want to keep writing. So we'll see what happens.

A plan was already starting to form in Luke’s mind. First things first- get Julie’s attention back on him and his adorable self.

Start off subtle he thought as he started to squirm next to Julie and nudge her with his nose. Julie absentmindedly reached down to start petting Luke, but didn’t look away from Nick, Flynn and her conversation at hand. In fact he felt her emotions spike even more.

Well then, he thought. He’d just have to try harder. He reached up to grab her sleeve and tugged on it a little. That ought to get her attention, he thought. Sure enough, Julie looked down at him and he felt his smile grow and his tail wag. There was his girl. She lifted him up and put him in her lap. He definitely liked his new spot better; he could sit up and see everyone over the table. Just as quickly though her attention turned back to Nick when he talked about whatever new movie was coming out.

He briefly glared at Nick and realized if he really wanted Julie’s attention focused back on him. He would have to do something drastic. He wasn’t sure though that he was quite prepared to go that far yet. Afterall, it could seriously backfire. He wanted Julie’s happy attention, not her mad attention. He could feel that feeling spike… again. He was grumbly, but at least he could curl up surrounded by Julie. He would just have to be content…

“Hey Julie, we should get together sometime and watch the new movie coming out”

Uh. No. Luke didn’t hesitate anymore and jumped up on the table so he could put himself directly between Julie and Nick. He sat down, blocking Julie’s view, looked Nick right in the eyes and gave the smallest growl. So small that it was almost unheard. Flynn and Julie’s eyes widened and Nick looked slightly uncomfortable.

“Luke!” Julie exclaimed. At which point he sat up and turned and looked at her. Phase two was in motion, also known as Hyper Adorable Puppy Mode.

He bounced around a little on the table, giving cute little barks and letting his tongue loll out. He would nudge Julie in the face with his head and then bounce over to Flynn and do the same. Every now and again he would do that thing dogs do when they play where they crouch and wiggle their butts and wag their tails. 

Julie shot him a suspicious look, but Flynn and Nick were totally enraptured. Somehow though curiously whenever Nick reached out to pet the puppy, he always seemed to dodge out of the way. And every time Nick tried to talk, Luke would give a little bark and soon Nick’s question was lost in a sea of puppy attention. Luke considered his plan a roaring success. Julie spent all her focus trying to figure out what he was up to and then had no time to worry about Nick!

Soon the bell rang and Julie scooped up Luke so she could head to her next class. Phase 3 was about to begin.

For the rest of the day, he convinced Julie to let him wander the halls with her walking. It was nice getting to follow her around and see the world through her eyes, but more importantly he could keep a watch out for Nick. Once, during a passing period Julie and Flynn had been talking and Nick had been coming up to join them. He’d been able to get in between him and Julie. This time he made sure Nick could hear the growl. He looked a little flabbergasted at the threatening scruffy dog, but wisely stayed away. Julie, being so involved with talking with Flynn missed the exchange entirely. He was such a good guard dog, he felt a little smug and he wondered if anyone looking at him could tell.

He was in fact the goodest, bestest boy he reassured himself.

He even managed to notice when it was time for Julie’s class, that Nick was in the class next door, which was when he hatched his final plan. 

After a little bit of begging, whimpering, and promising to stay out of trouble, he convinced Julie to let him roam free since this was her last class. He really did want a chance to explore the school that was so important to Julie and he’d gotten used to having a little bit of alone time, but he had a much more important plan in the works first.

As soon as he made it out the door though two roadblocks entered his path. He heard Alex sigh. “We’ve been waiting for this to happen.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” Luke replied.

“What’s your plan here?” Asked Alex.

“We watched you mess with Nick earlier. What are you going to do? Pee on his stuff?” Reggie chimed in.

“Actually, I’d just planned on chewing on it a little. But your idea is much better.”

“Wait Luke no!” They both called out. “Aren’t you being just a little bit ridiculous here?” Alex asked.

“Yeah dude, we know you’re a little jealous, but this really isn’t the answer.”

“I am NOT jealous. He just needs to know that I am Julie’s priority not him.”

“Do you not hear how you sound?” Alex desperately tried to reach him with logic.

“He asked Julie out right in front of me. Right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything. How am I supposed to compete with somebody who is alive and breathing and can grow old with her? But you know what, I can chew on his stuff, and just for a moment he’ll understand that I matter. So, are my boys going to help me or not?”

Alex and Reggie looked at each other for a minute and then nodded. “We’re in!”

The mischievous glint was back in Luke’s eyes as he laid in wait outside Nick’s classroom door for the perfect moment to sneak in.

In the end Alex and Reggie came up with the best way to get him in. They started knocking at the door. The teacher would walk over, open the door, and of course find nothing there. After the third or fourth time she was feeling jittery and nervous. She turned and looked at her class and suggested that maybe they should have class outside. The students were instructed to leave their stuff and out of the classroom they went. 

Perfect, Luke thought as he pranced in. He didn’t want to completely destroy Nick’s stuff, just rough it up a little. He chewed on the edges of the books and papers and peed a little on the back part of the backpack where the fabric was thickest (so hopefully it wouldn’t soak through). After admiring his handiwork, he wandered back into Julie’s classroom and laid down next to her feeling quite pleased with how the day had turned out.


	14. Chapter 14

Soon enough the bell rang, and Julie was glad to be heading home. She picked up Luke in her arms to walk out of the classroom only to run into a very confused looking Nick. She could feel Luke tense in her arms. He’d been acting strange since lunch and she could’ve sworn she’d heard him growl at Nick earlier. Admittedly she was a little bit grateful that his antics had gotten her out of turning down Nick again, not that she would ever tell Luke about that.

“Hey, do you know where your puppy was during class?” Nick asked hesitantly.

“He was by me most of the time, but he did wander a little bit why?” She could feel Luke stiffen and her suspicion grew. He started trying to bury his face in her arms, but she was having none of that. “What did he do?” She sighed.

“Well it seems like some of my stuff has been chewed on.” Luke had the nerve to send sheepish apologies to her, “and it kinda smells funky.” Nick held her backpack up for her to smell and she could feel her face drain.

“Nick, I’m so sorry. He’s new and I guess he’s not fully trained yet. I’ll pay for a new one or to clean this one or whatever it takes.”

“I mean it’s fine, but if you really want to pay me back, then maybe you could pick up the popcorn when we go see a movie?”

Julie could feel the bristle and anger tinted with something radiating off puppy Luke and she smiled and shook her head as she figured out exactly what was going on with him today. Even knowing he could read her, she let her emotions soar at the thought that he’d been jealous of Nick.

“I’m really sorry Nick, I’m happy to help clean your backpack given how my puppy wrecked it, but I still like that other guy,” she felt Luke perk up at that, “and I just don’t think it’s such a good idea. Maybe we could invite Flynn and some friends and make it a group thing?”

She could tell Nick was disheartened, but he still smiled and agreed before wandering off. She turned her attention back to Luke and gave him the best glare she could while her heart was soaring and laughing. She sent through her amused displeasure and let him know, he would NOT be coming to school again if he couldn’t behave.

He just gave her a little smirk and made no promises. Together they headed home.

They spent the afternoon outside playing ball with Carlos and her dad. The rest of the ghost boys hung out with them too, amused by the spectacle and taking part in the game in small ways whenever they could. Julie worried about what would happen to Carlos and her dad when Luke went back to being a ghost. It seemed like they would miss having the scruffy fluff around.

Eventually though she had to go upstairs to do her homework. Luke trailed along behind her. He hoped soon he would go back to his human form. He missed having arms, mostly so he could hug her, but also because it was hard not being able to play music with her and his best friends. In the meantime though, he was going to take advantage of his ability to curl up in her lap, feel her emotions, and be with her.

This time, Julie didn’t hesitate to pull Luke onto the bed with her. She spread out her notebooks and her computer and warned him that she really did need to get stuff done. He acknowledged her unspoken request with a soft bark before curling up in her lap and falling into a nap. They spent the next couple hours like that, with her softly giving him head scritches.

He basked in her emotions. The confusion and small frustrations from when she was working on math. Her curiosity when she was working on science, it was like he could feel the gears turning in her head as she solved the problems. He became addicted to the little bursts of joy when she would experience the small successes or when she would overcome a difficult problem. He could tell when her reading was making her sleepy and could nudge her awake.

He felt so much like he was a part of her life, that he was a part of her. He had experienced very few moments in his life that he would call perfect, most of them involving Julie. He knew though, that this one would be added to the list.

Soon enough, it was time for her to go to sleep. Luke curled up at the end of the bed, not wanting to assume that he was guaranteed cuddles and not wanting her to kick him off the bed entirely. Julie climbed into her bed, turned off the light, and sleepily asked him what he was doing all the way over there. With immense joy he bounded up to the spot where he had curled up last night with her pulling him closer and snuggling into him.

Yeah, it was definitely perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're so close to the end! One chapter left! 
> 
> What's going to happen????
> 
> (I kid, it's been planned since the first chapter)


	15. Chapter 15

Luke awoke with a start in the middle of the night. Something was wrong. He could feel the distress pouring off Julie in waves. Pain, fear and sadness were bombarding him like punches to the gut. Julie was tossing and turning as if she were trying to escape something. He could hear her whimper, but he just knew she wasn’t awake. It was breaking his heart to see her hurting like this, to be trapped in her own night terrors.

He tried desperately to call out to her over their link. He called out her name as if he was screaming it until he was hoarse. He was nudging her with his head and pressing himself against her. Anything to let her know that he was here, that she was okay and safe. He sent reassurance and love and warmth any sort of positive emotion he could summon. 

Nothing seemed to work. He was drowning in her fear and suddenly it felt like he was lost in her nightmares. He could feel the pain of losing her mom and her fear of losing them too. He could see the scene in her mind where she went from being the life of the party to everyone leaving her until she was drowning in darkness with no way out.

He was so frustrated and scared. Helpless. He couldn’t do anything to help her. He couldn’t reach her. He was stuck just as she was in his worst nightmare, where she was hurting and he couldn’t help her. He couldn’t save her.

He wished so desperately that he was back in his ghost form. Something deep inside of him needed to wrap her up in his arms and hold her through this. He needed to find some way to reach her and he couldn’t do it as this small scrap of fur. He would give anything to be able to truly be there for her, in the best way he knew how.

The choked sob she let out broke him. He begged the universe to help him. That whatever power had brought him to her could help him out again this time. 

It felt like silence echoed back at him. But Luke hadn’t gotten this far relying on the universe. He’d gotten himself into this mess and he would get himself out. His will redoubled, solely thinking of being there for the girl he loved who was in so much pain. He reached out as far as his little paws could go.

In a blink, he was back to his ghost self. His arms were still mid-stretch and he wasted no time in wrapping them around her and pulling her as close to him as he could. He buried his head in her hair and worked on surrounding her.

Oddly enough, he could still feel her emotions and he noticed immediately when she started to stir. In his mind, he let out a triumphant shout. That he had reached her, that he had protected her. She smiled a little, still coming out of the terror and he could still feel all of the rough jagged edges of emotions. Her arms reached out to wrap around him, hugging him as if she couldn’t bear to ever let go. Slowly she raised her head and opened her eyes to look into his. There were still tears there and he reluctantly removed one of his hands from around her so he could gently brush them away with his thumb. 

She smiled a little, a sad kind of smile, but all he could see was how beautiful she was. How she kept all that pain bundled close to her but smiled every day anyway. He couldn’t help it, he beamed at her, as if he was glowing. He poured all of his support and care through the tentative bond that still existed between them, even though he was back in ghost form. The return he got sparked him somewhere deep inside.

Those feelings he’d sensed earlier, the sharp ones that he’d assumed were associated with a crush on Nick were swelling into a tidal wave. They weren’t shy anymore or hiding. It was so much stronger and so much better. He gazed at her in awe as all those feelings rushed through to him, making him feel as if he were coming alive.

“Julie”, he whispered. 

She leaned up and kissed him and every definition he’d ever had of perfect went flying out the window. He doubted anything would ever compare to this moment and he felt himself sink into her and enjoy it.

Julie could not believe she had done that. But of course, she’d had to. Her nightmares didn’t come very often anymore, but when they did, they shook her to the core. Reopening all the old wounds and pain. Even in her sleep, she thought she could hear him calling out to her, but the sound was dulled like it was too far away to grasp. However, a light had appeared so suddenly and she’d followed it out until she could feel him. 

She could feel everything that he was pouring into her and to open her eyes to find him there for her, battling her darkness with her once again. Well, she just couldn’t wait any longer. Luckily, he didn’t seem to mind. They stayed there for what seemed like forever, foreheads pressed together, and limbs wrapped around each other. Simply enjoying each other’s company.

After a while, she could feel his hesitancy, not wanting to push too much too fast. She didn’t want him to go so she whispered, “you’re staying right?”. He nodded and squeezed her tighter, “Anything for you.” She laced her fingers together with his, gave him one more soft kiss, and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Luke thanked every lucky turn and mishap that had gotten him to this point. Even the killer hot dogs made the list. He thanked every step that had led to this opportunity with the best girl. But mostly, he thanked his experiment gone wrong and the puppy days that followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all everyone! Thanks so much for coming on this journey with me. I loved writing it, and it was nice having people who loved reading it.
> 
> I may come back a little later with some fluffy puppy one-shots, and possibly one where the ghostly trio are all puppies. Also maybe where they can transform at will? Although I would be more than happy if someone else wanted to write it! 
> 
> I will desperately miss Luke as a puppy.
> 
> Love y'all <3


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